There’s little doubt that Yankee Stadium is iconic in nature so it’s no surprise that with the All Star Game coming to the Bronx, that Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective would eventually top the baseball book list. Outside of that, it’s mostly more of the same with just one debut.
Yogi Berra’s new book, You Can Observe A Lot By Watching, looks like a fantastic read. I did get a couple of new books on the shelf recently, one of which I’m particularly interested in telling you about but I’ll save it for another day.
Since I started doing these lists, the only book that has stayed in the top ten week in and week out has been Moneyball by Michael Lewis. I read it about a year after it came out and found it an interesting read but with it having such staying power, it might be worth a second look. At the time, I was actually looking for one of Lewis’ other books, Liars Poker, at the library yet came up short and settled for Moneyball, which I wanted to read eventually anyway.
And not only has Moneyball stayed in the top ten, it’s secured the top spot. I missed last week and had I done a list, it would have been Moneyball at the top then too. I’m not sure why it popped up to the top spot, but the book gets regular mentions so I’m not surprised.
There’s two debuts near the bottom of the list. Yankee for Life, which is written by Bobby Murcer, looks like a very interesting read. And just making the list is the 50 year look at the Giants in San Francisco. A lot of noise has been made about the Dodgers move 50 years ago but the Giants also headed west with them and this looks like an interesting look at what’s gone down the past 50 years.
We have a new number one, with Living on the Black taking the top spot from the 33 Year Old Rookie. There’s also two new books to the top ten so lets take a look at the list.
Mike Lowell’s book, Deep Drive, made a nice debut at number five while The Soul of Baseball, which is about Buck O’Neill, showed up at number seven. Just a quick note, I’m sure The Soul of Baseball was in the top ten on Amazon.com at some point, but since I started this site, this is the first time it’s popped into the top ten. Not sure why, because there’s no clearance sale so it must have gotten a mention somewhere. Red Sox Rule, which is about Terry Francona, popped back on the list at number ten.
Also, for the first time since I started doing this, Baseball Prospectus has slipped from the list. That’s at least two months in the top ten with most of those weeks at number one.
Living on the Black made a nice jump from 10 to 4 and give some props to Baseball Prospectus. They’re about ready to fall off the list, but they’ve been on here for a nice long time. Very good staying power for an annual. Just missing is Watching Baseball Smarter, which would have been a debut. Maybe next week.
I got a couple of new books I’m hoping to touch on later in the week. Also hoping to finish an actual review, but I’ve been threatening that for a while.
I took a couple of weeks off on this and ironically, without a lot of new entrants into the mix, the list is most of the same books from three weeks ago, albeit in a different order. We have a new number one which is interesting but here’s the list:
The two books that are new to the list are Cubs Forever, whcih is obviously about the Cubs and it’s a collection of interviews which includes the likes of Ernie Banks and Ryne Sandberg. Living on the Black is a book about Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine in their 2007. Living on the Black already has a one star review which isn’t good but the story seems interesting.
I’m behind. Way behind. I have a couple of books in the hopper and a couple I need to just look at quickly and give a brief synopsis to give them credit. It’s the downside of a day job taking away your valuable time from the important things you need to get done.
For the second week in a row, we have a new number one book on the Amazon.com top ten baseball book list. This week it’s H.A. Dorfman’s The Mental ABC’s of Pitching. The book came out in 2000 and it looks like a New York Times editorial a couple of weeks ago is what caused all of the interest in the book. It looks like an interesting read and it almost looks more like a personal development book (which I buy and read) then a true baseball book. Worth checking out. Dorfmann’s other book, The Mental Game of Baseball, also made the top ten list. Speaking of the list, here it is…
The only new book to the list was Dorfmann’s aforementioned The Mental Game of Baseball. Bill James Goldmine is a casualty this week and Baseball Prospectus 2008 falls all the to four. This isn’t a knock on them because it’s an exceptional book. They held the top spot for several weeks which is no small task and the fact that they’re still fourth after all these weeks shows the staying power of the franchise.
I know the past few weeks the only content I’ve provided is the top ten list but I’m hoping for that to change soon. I’m making my way through a few books and I have a few new ones on the way. In the meantime, keeping on my regular Sunday schedule has at least given me something to write about here. Anyway, here’s the list.
Most important, Baseball Prospectus has been dethroned. They’ve topped the list every week so far since I started this but the Yankee Stadium Retrospective got a big bump and it knocked BP down to number two. I have a feeling BP will back on top here soon though. There were also three debuts to the list. Fay Vincent’s “We Would Have Played for Nothing” made it all the way to number three while The Mental ABC’s of Pitching lands at number four. The Mental ABC’s book isn’t new so I’m wondering where it got mentioned to give it such a big pop. Rob Neyer’s new book just made the list at number.
Bill James Goldmine fell all the way to number eight and they could be dropping off soon. I’m getting the Rob Neyer book in the mail soon and I’m hoping to get some more formal reviews done in the next week or so.
There’s a couple of newcomers this week. It’s interesting how a few days can shift this list a lot. Just a couple of days ago, the 33 Year Old Rookie would have been near the bottom but it’s had a good showing while the ESPN Encyclopedia was moving up only to plummet off the list in the final days. I picked Sunday for no other reason then I usually have a little more time but this list changes, at least a little bit, every day.
So The 33 Year Old Rookie and Red Sox Rule (haven’t picked it up but it looks like it’s mostly about Terry Francona) make their top ten debut. Moneyball still has some staying power and they’ve actually moved up to number three while the BA Prospect Handbook looks to be on it’s way out of the top five soon. They even got the right Ron Shandler’s Forecaster on the list this time.
Next week, I’d expect to see Rob Neyer’s new book on the list with it’s debut the following Tuesday. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Baseball Enyclopedia pop in and out of the top ten as other books with less staying power make their way down and out. Hope everyone had a good Easter.
Rob Neyer has a new book coming out in less then two weeks. Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Legends comes out on April 1 and it looks like an interesting read. You can check out an excerpt of the book by hitting the link.
would eventually top the baseball book list. Outside of that, it’s mostly more of the same with just one debut.